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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Horse Ranch in Zetas Cartel Case Raised Suspicions

If associates of a reputed Mexican drug cartel leader had wanted to lay low
while laundering money at an American horse ranch, they seemed to do everything
wrong.

They swept their fields at night with a giant spotlight, threw around lots of
cash, bought parcels of land in a deep recession and made expensive improvements
to their farm in an industry not known for generating large profits.

“It would take a multi-millionaire just to support an operation like that,”
neighbor Clifford Massengale said.

A day after federal authorities arrested ranch operator Jose Trevino Morales
in an alleged money laundering scheme benefiting the notorious Zeta cartel,
people in this horse ranching community said Trevino was a good neighbor. But
his ranch, Zule Farms, seemed strangely out of step.

According to tax records cited by prosecutors, Trevino and his wife reported
making only $58,000 in 2009. But somehow they plowed millions of dollars into
the quarter-horse ranch.

Neighbors questioned how the couple and their associates could afford to pay
cash for top-notch horses and said the pair’s determined effort to blend in with
the area’s horse-farming culture actually made them stand out.

“The first thing I noticed was they were too obvious in their attempt to let
people know they were in the horse business, but they were the best neighbors
we’ve ever had on that property,” said Massengale, a retired military officer
who lives next door.

He said ranch workers put fresh paint on the barns, built a new barn and took
good care of the hundreds of horses that roam the 160 acres southeast of
Lexington. The fields were finely manicured.

An indictment against Trevino and his wife, Zulema, was unsealed Tuesday in
Texas. Agents raided ranches in Lexington, the Ruidoso Downs horse track in New
Mexico and sites in Texas, arresting Trevino, his wife and five others.

The defendants are expected to be extradited to Texas to face charges. Seven
other suspects, including two Trevino brothers, were charged but remain at
large.

Greg Lucy, who owns Purcell Farm and Ranch Supply in a neighboring town, said
it was unusual for anyone to put a large amount of money into a horse operation.

“The horse industry has been real tough over the last three years. Grain
markets were high. Fuel markets were high. The drought last year was real
tough,” Lucy said. Some operations have gone out of business.

Convenience store operator Jung Kim said Trevino once showed him satellite
photos of his property and expressed an interest in expanding.

“I did think they were pretty rich,” Kim said. “They had a lot of nice
horses, and the owner talked about buying some other ranches to grow hay.”

Trevino and the ranch hands would stop by occasionally for soft drinks,
snacks and beer. They all appeared to be dedicated to the ranch.

“They were working hard every day. They had a lot of horses, raised them,
bred them and took them racing,” he said. “I never thought they laundered
money.”

Of all the money that the federal government said was spent — $20 million or
more — little of it was spent locally. Lucy said he didn’t recall any major
purchases at his store. At a saddle shop in Lexington, the people would browse
but not buy.

“They didn’t have much of an impact at all on the local economy, as far as I
could tell,” Lucy said.

Prosecutors reviewed records from banks, the American Quarter Horse
Association and state racing commissions to track the money, according to an
affidavit.

Several confidential informants shared information about Trevino and the two
brothers also named in the indictment. One of the brothers, Miguel Angel Trevino
Morales, helps lead the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico, prosecutors said.

Tax records showed that Trevino and his wife made $70,000 in 2008 and $58,000
in 2009, but that horses were transferred to his ownership to cover up his
brothers’ effort to launder money. Horse records were often backdated to
indicate Trevino bought an animal at a low price and that its winnings generated
the money to run the farm when, in fact, it was drug money, according to
prosecutors.

Authorities said Trevino and his wife would need to spend $200,000 per month
to feed and care for the horses alone, much less the stunning landscape.

Wage records show that Trevino “did not have a legitimate source of income
significant enough” to pay for either the horses or their care, authorities
said.

Trevino and his wife lived in North Texas before moving to Oklahoma sometime
around 2011, a neighbor said. Madeline Easterling of Balch Springs, Texas, said
the couple had four children and that he often looked tired from laying bricks
all day.

“We are just floored,” Easterling said. “I can’t help but feel like there has
to be some kind of mistake.”

A woman who was at the family’s former home Tuesday in Balch Springs said she
was Jose Trevino’s niece. She insisted the charges were untrue.

“Everything is legal,” she said. “I’ve seen receipts.”

The woman, who would only give her middle name, Isabel, said the U.S.
government was discriminating against Mexicans and unfairly naming Jose Trevino
because of his ties to his brother.

“Just because we’re related to him, they’re trying to tie us to that,” she
said. “I don’t get it, though. It’s all stories.”

Neighbors said the spotlight used to illuminate stables was especially
unusual. They assumed the fields were illuminated for security reasons.

Debbie Schauf, director of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association in
Edmond, said the quarter horse industry is not the “sport of kings,” like the
high-price thoroughbred industry, and that upfront expenses aren’t that great.

Still, Trevino had 425 horses, so basic daily maintenance would have cost
thousands of dollars per day, maybe more to care for race horses.

K.D. Wilhite, whose Old Dog Gun Shop faces the ranch, was grateful for ranch
workers who kept a ditch clear of weeds. But he noticed after the fact that some
things seemed odd.

“There is no way they could make that much profit from that operation, not
unless they know something I don’t,” Wilhite said.

Anyone who spends that much money “is going to stand out,” he said. “They
would have had to buy an awful lot of feed. It appeared to me horses were coming
and going all the time.”

Government Forced to Take Abandoned Cartel Horses

Federal agents were forced to seize a dozen horses in New Mexico that are part of a racing operation allegedly laundering money for one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels, after their trainers refused to continue caring for them, prosecutors said in court documents filed Friday.

Prosecutors had hoped a previous protective order would force companies used to front the alleged operation to pay for the continued care of more than 400 horses. But the government has had to take custody of 12 abandoned this week.

The seizure notice came the same day an FBI agent testified in Austin that a Texas horse trainer accused of helping the ruthless Zetas drug cartel launder money would be in danger if released on bail. Eusevio Maldonado Huitron, 48, was arrested earlier this week as part of a money laundering indictment that named two high-ranking Zeta brothers among others.

Authorities estimated it would have cost Jose Trevino Morales, a third brother charged with running the U.S. horse operation, $200,000 a month to care for the hundreds of horses involved. In the indictment unsealed Tuesday in Austin, prosecutors allege millions of dollars in drug profits were funneled through the group's quarter horse activities in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and California.

The government had tried to stay out of the horse business. But that's hard to do when more than 400 quarter horses make up a good chunk of the assets prosecutors want forfeited. It also could be months or even years before the forfeitures can be resolved.

Anticipating this, prosecutors got a protective order earlier this month requiring that the horses continue to be fed and housed by their current caretakers. It was unclear if the front companies listed as the horses' owners were expected to continue using money the government alleges is drug profits and the U.S. Attorney's office did not immediately return phone messages Friday.

Among the 12 horses seized Thursday at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico were Break Out the Bullets and Eye on Corona. It wasn't immediately clear where those horses were taken.

"Federal agents were concerned about getting enough food and water for the animals and also had security concerns regarding the facility at Ruidoso," the notice filed in court in Austin said.

Court documents showed there was only a week's worth of food remaining at the New Mexico stables and that, when approached by federal agents, one trainer refused to help care for the horses. Another initially agreed but then abandoned the animals because he said his dad saw media coverage of the raids and told him to get out, the document said.

John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor in San Diego who worked on money laundering cases, said seizing animals can be a headache for the government.

"When I was at the U.S. Attorney's office a guy who was in charge of forfeiture always said never seize anything that you have to feed," Kirby said. "And you think about it, I mean they need to eat, they need to be trained. The government is going to have to put some money into them to retain their value."

Also in Austin on Friday, FBI agent Haskell Wilkins testified that investigators found bank statements in the home of Maldonado, the trainer, indicating about $24,000 in personal accounts belonging to his young children. He also described a picture found inside of Maldonado allegedly posing with Jose Trevino and a winning horse named "Tempting Dash."

Wilkins said the photo shows Trevino's children using their hands to make the numbers "40" and "42" — alleged Zeta nicknames for Miguel Trevino and Oscar Trevino.

Wilkins testified Maldonado would likely be at risk if freed on bond.

"There would definitely be some flight to avoid any type of retaliation," Wilkins said.

A judge scheduled the hearing to continue Monday and Huitron will remain in jail until then.

Of course, people love to talk real hard behind a monitor!! Go ahead and go after his family in Texas.. that's if you have the balls too and aren't all talk and no show. I'm not defending any cartel, just stupid when people try to act so tough behind a monitor.

FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 | Federal District-hand drug reached the gates of one of horse racing's most prestigious race in the United States.

Reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that Miguel Angel Trevino, number two of 'Los Zetas' and brother of Jose Trevino, who was arrested last Tuesday on U.S. soil for alleged "laundering" money, bribed the charge of opening the gates in order to win horse races. In 2010, members of Los Zetas, who launder money by buying, selling, breeding and training race horses, corrupted the charge of "All American Futurity," one of the race largest in the country.

"In this race the Z-40 (Miguel Angel Trevino) said he and his associates paid approximately $ 10 000 to charge the gates to stop the horses who competed against Mr. Pilot," says the report of an order search warrant that the District Court granted North Texas Jason R. Preece, FBI special agent. The report, dated June 11, 2012, describes the evidence collected by the FBI on crimes committed by Los Zetas in the property located at number 12 909 Timothy Lane, Balch, Texas, and provides new details on how you cooked the victory of Mr. Pilot in the famous Derby September 2010 in the resort town of Ruidoso, New Mexico. The unexpected triumph of equine Trevino, who were awarded a prize of one million dollars , garnered the surprise of the racing writers, who marveled that a horse "as green as grass", he could beat competitors with better qualifying times and world-class riders, as reported on June 12 Ginger Thompson The New York Times. The FBI document provides details on the countless sports activities of the Zetas in the business of horse racing in the U.S. to "launder" dirty money from drug trafficking. "records (the operation) obtained from the American Quarter Horse Association show that the original name of the horse (Mr. Pilot) was Maverick Perry, and was purchased by Ramiro Villarreal on September 17, 2009 for $ 81,000, "he says. reveals, for example, that the name the horse was changed to Mr. Pilot, the nickname of Carlos Nayen Veracruz, a kind of stepchild of businessman Francisco Antonio Colorado Cessa Veracruz, aka Pancho Colorado, owner of ADT Petroservicios in January 2009 won the bid 18575051-045 - Pemex 08, $ 103 million for the rental of drilling equipment for the North Division of Pemex Exploration and Production. Details on the origins of Mr. Pilot and the bribe of about $ 10,000 to ensure his victory in New Mexico were provided to the FBI witness protection as CI # 1, who said he met Oscar Omar Trevino Morales, 42, in 2008 when he was commander of Piedras Negras zeta and used the name Moy. The CI # 1 identified Nayen Carlos, who Efraín Teodoro Torres worked for, aka The Z-14 who was killed in a horse race in Veracruz ... (and said) after the death of Torres, Nayen became the right hand of the 40 for its interest in horses quarter mile,

"says the report. Nayen Carmina LLC founded the company to facilitate the "laundering" of foreign exchange through the American Quarter Horse Industry. About "Tempting Dash", the first equine champion Los Zetas who won more than 600 thousand dollars in 2009, the document reveals that it was acquired by $ 28,000 and according to another informant protected, CI # 2, this horse was known in Mexico as The Bones. "The CI # 2 also would have counted the money from the sale of narcotics. "Every week, the organization received about a million and a half to two million dollars. The most I ever told CI # 2 was five million dollars. "Every dollar notes have been inspected, and all tickets have been branded used to pay bribes to corrupt police and other partners," the FBI document . An illegal business that left a lot of money to the racing industry quarter mile in the U.S. but at a price of terror. "In 2010, 42 told the CI # 1 that the U.S. government was responsible, 40 for the murders of over 180 U.S. citizens, but said, 42 The 40 was actually responsible for 385 ", the report said. In his article for The New York Times, Ginger Thompson wrote that an expert from the racing industry will said that "much of the growth of the quarter-mile races in the United States because those guys ... they have spent much money and that has made ​​a big difference." Other employers mentioned in the document is the Veracruz Alejandro Barradas Lagunes , who through his firm Integral-Agency Group ADU Customs, helped buy race horses. Ramiro Villarreal bought the animals through Basic Enterprises, and Francisco Colorado Cessa were paid with personal checks and Petroservicios ADT in an attempt to give legitimacy to the operations.

"shows a photo of Trevino's children using their hands to make the numbers 40 and 42".....all you need to say, their in the game and they will soon find out how "cool" it is to praise their scumbag family, better run run run....

June 17, 2012 6:13 PM .Good stuff brother.Hey man,is Carlos Nayen Veracruz,the guy in the picture who everyone thinks is The Lazca.The guy in the black suit?It seems a good deal of people think its Lazca,but i also saw a dude on here sying it was not,and that it was indeed Carlos Nayen.Reading your copy there,that would make sense,as this guy does resemble Lazca?Anyway man,good stuff.Saludos

June 18, 2012 2:44 AM ."FUNNY THAT THE WHOLE TOWN IS TRYING TO WIPE THEIR HANDS CLEAN OF ALL THE DRUG MONEY THAT FLOWED THROUGH THERE AND INTO THEIR POCKETS"I completely agree with you man,i think its fucklin wrong.The Trevinos get arrested,what happens to all the good old folks who took all their money with no problem at all.Is this cause they are Mexican crooks and are expendable,while the white establishment types don't do things like that.Some phony bullshit again.They loved taking the money,and they knew where it was comin from.When it gets popped,guess who had nothing to do with it.Hypocritical fuckers,lookin at people as though they are better.They are worse than us.They are the criminals,the ones with the white shirts,and names like bush.

Damn people are getting killed in Mexico to Feed horses. Damn shame. Big bosses will prob. Cry if one their horses looses a race or get ill. What happens when they loose one of their muertos de hambre scums? Most likey nothing.

Arrest them all, sons and daughters included, they are all complicit in the illegal activities going on. They didn't mind partaking in the the money now there is a price to pay. Arrest the dumb niece as well.

I have known of at least 3 families in the state of Jalisco ,, in which they kidnapped there loved ones, tortured dismembered even though they asked for ransome they were cruel enough to kill them... This was in the town of Gomez Farias JAlisco MExico.... zetas are responsible!!!!!

I would bet most people didn't know after the raid half of the land reverted back to the last owner because he could not pay the rest of the note (thats right it was not payed for) they also are having all the equipment, tractors, trucks, etc. furniture reposessed (thats right not payed for). now the Gov. is selling the horse because of overcrowding but they are going to sell them from the same farm. I think if he is found guilty fine but to sell stuff before maybe we should all watch out.